Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

Darktrace vs Garden

Darktrace logo

Darktrace

Cybersecurity

Autonomous threat detection and response

From
$20000/year
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Garden logo

Garden

Developer Tools

Kubernetes development and testing automation with shared caching, now owned by Incredibuild

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Garden has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Darktrace no pricing information published on website; vendors must request pricing through demo request form or contact sales; Garden incredibuild acquired Garden in November 2024 and the pricing page now redirects to documentation, so there is no public commercial offer and no published roadmap for a team betting a platform on it.
  • They diverge on capability: Darktrace covers Self-learning AI, Garden covers Action graph.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Darktrace and Garden actually diverge.

Attributes where Darktrace and Garden differ
AttributeDarktraceGarden
Starting price$20000/yearFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsNetwork, Cloud, EmailLinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
Founded2013Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Darktrace

  • Self-learning AI
  • Network anomaly detection
  • Autonomous response
  • Behavioral analysis
  • Threat model visualization
  • Email security
  • Application control
  • Incident response automation

Only in Garden

  • Action graph
  • Shared result caching
  • Remote Kubernetes environments
  • In-cluster builds
  • Same config everywhere
  • Hot reload sync
  • Helm and Kustomize support
  • Templating

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Darktrace

  • Threat Detectionnot Garden
  • Ndrnot Garden
  • Incident Responsenot Garden

Garden

  • A platform team whose integration test suite takes longer than the coffee break and needs caching to cut the loopnot Darktrace
  • An organisation with thirty or more services on Kubernetes where docker-compose no longer approximates productionnot Darktrace
  • Giving every developer an ephemeral namespace instead of queuing for one shared staging environmentnot Darktrace
  • Running the identical build and test definition locally and in CI so failures reproduce on a laptopnot Darktrace

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Darktrace

  • No pricing information published on website; vendors must request pricing through demo request form or contact sales
  • No tiered pricing structure available to compare editions or select appropriate plan level before contacting sales

Garden

  • Incredibuild acquired Garden in November 2024 and the pricing page now redirects to documentation, so there is no public commercial offer and no published roadmap for a team betting a platform on it.
  • It is tightly bound to Kubernetes, so teams running on ECS, Nomad, plain VMs or serverless get little from it and would need a different tool entirely.
  • The YAML action graph is a real configuration surface: a large monorepo needs someone to own and maintain Garden config as a first-class artefact, which is a standing platform-engineering cost.
  • Shared remote environments mean every developer needs cluster access and a cost allocation model, so cloud spend rises and namespace sprawl becomes a thing you have to police.
  • Caching correctness depends on declaring dependencies accurately; an under-declared action will serve a stale cached pass and hide a genuine test failure, which is a hard class of bug to notice.

Pricing, plan by plan

Darktrace

$20000/year
  • Detect$20000/year
    • Network anomaly detection
    • AI-powered threat detection
    • Compliance reporting
  • Detect & Respond$35000/year
    • All Detect features
    • Autonomous response
    • Email security
  • Enterprise$50000/year
    • All features
    • Dedicated support
    • Custom training

Garden

Free
  • Garden open sourceFree
    • Apache 2.0 licensed CLI
    • Full action graph and caching
    • Self-managed clusters
  • Commercial tier$undefined/year
    • Hosted caching and team features
    • Support and onboarding
    • Pricing no longer published since the Incredibuild acquisition

Which should you pick?

Choose Darktrace if

  • You need self-learning ai.
  • You work on Network, Cloud, Email.
  • You also want network anomaly detection.
Darktrace review

Choose Garden if

  • You need action graph.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes.
  • You also want shared result caching.
Garden review

Questions people ask

Is Darktrace or Garden better?
Neither clearly leads. Darktrace starts at $20000/year and Garden at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Darktrace or Garden?
Garden has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $20000/year for Darktrace and Free for Garden.
Does Darktrace or Garden run on more platforms?
Darktrace runs on Network, Cloud, Email. Garden runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes.
Can I use Garden for free?
Yes. Garden has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Darktrace starts at $20000/year.
What is Darktrace best used for?
Darktrace is most often used for threat detection, ndr, incident response. Of those, threat detection and ndr are not what Garden is typically brought in for.
What can Darktrace do that Garden cannot?
Darktrace covers Self-learning AI, Network anomaly detection, Autonomous response, Behavioral analysis. Garden covers Action graph, Shared result caching, Remote Kubernetes environments, In-cluster builds.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Darktrace: How much does Darktrace cost?

Darktrace does not publish pricing information on its website. To obtain pricing details and learn about available packages, customers must contact Darktrace directly by requesting a demo or reaching out through the company's contact form.

Source
Garden: Is Garden still maintained?

The open source project remains on GitHub under Incredibuild ownership, but the commercial pricing page redirects to the docs and there is no public paid offer.

Darktrace: Does Darktrace offer a free trial?

Darktrace mentions a free trial option, but specific trial length, features included, and how to access it are not published on the website. Users must contact the company directly to inquire about trial availability.

Source
Garden: Do I need Kubernetes?

Effectively yes. Garden is built around Kubernetes environments and offers little to teams on other runtimes.

Garden: Does it replace my CI system?

No. It runs inside GitHub Actions, GitLab CI or similar and speeds up what those pipelines execute.

Garden: What is the actual saving?

It comes from skipping builds and tests whose inputs have not changed, so the benefit scales with how many services you have and how often only a few change.

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